Safety shield for a fume-collecting apparatus

ABSTRACT

A safety shield placed and secured under a fume-collecting apparatus for a metallurgical furnace when the furnace is not operating, thereby preventing slag accumulated within and on the apparatus during furnace operation from falling upon workmen below. The shield may be placed under the apparatus by setting it on a rig, moving the rig under the apparatus, securing the shield under the apparatus, and subsequently removing the rig.

United States Patent John D. Roscoe Baltimore, Md.

Apr. 18, 1968 May 25, 1971 Bethlehem Steel Corporation Inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee SAFETY SHIELD FOR A FUME-COLLECTING APPARATUS 2 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 266/16 Int. Cl F27d 21/00 Field of Search 266/15, 16,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,205,810 9/1965 Rosenak 98/115 3,215,425 1 1/1965 Vogt 266/35 Primary Examiner-Spencer J. Overholser Assistant Examiner-John S, Brown Attorney-Joseph J. OKeefe ABSTRACT: A safety shield placed and secured under a fume-collecting apparatus for a metallurgical furnace when the furnace is not operating, thereby preventing slag accumulated within and on the apparatus during furnace operation from falling upon workmen below. The shield may be placed under the apparatus by setting it on a rig, moving the rig under the apparatus, securing the shield under the apparatus, and subsequently removing the rig.

Patented May 25, 1971 INVENTOR Jo/m D. Roscoe SAFETY SHIELD FOR A FUME-COLLECTING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Many metallurgical furnaces emit large quantities of fumes during their operation. Fume-collecting apparatus used with these furnaces often become coated with slag matter carried by the fumes. With a basic oxygen furnace having a fume-collecting hood located above its opening, agitation within the furnace causes additional slag matter to be splashed on and into the hood.

Slag adhering to, and accumulating on, the fume-collecting apparatus is a danger to workmen below. It may fall off at any time due to cooling of the apparatus or other natural causes. Therefore, it must be periodically scraped off and, obviously, personnel cannot safely work on the furnace below during this scraping operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention, a shield is placed and secured under a fume-collecting apparatus for a metallurgical furnace, thereby preventing slag accumulated within and on the apparatus during furnace operation from falling upon workmen below when the furnace is not operating. The shield also allows repair or relining of the furnace while the slag is being scraped off a fume-collecting apparatus above it. Placing of the shield under the fume-collecting apparatus can be easily accomplished by setting it on a carrying member, moving the carrying member under the apparatus, and removing it once the shield has been secured.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a plan view of a safety shield.

FIG. 2 is an elevation of the shield shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a rig adapted to place the shield of FIG. 1 under a fume-collecting hood.

FIG. 4 is an elevation of the rig shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an elevation schematically showing the shield of FIG. 1 being placed under a fume-collecting hood.

FIG. 6 is an elevation schematically showing the shield secured under the fume-collecting hood and the rig being removed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIGS. 1 and 2 show a safety shield adapted to be secured under an octagonal fume-collecting hood located above the opening of a basic oxygen furnace. The shield comprises a main plate 1 stifiened at its center by two inclined plates, 2a and 2b, and side plates, 3a and 3b. A hook 4 is provided by which the shield is secured beneath the hood. The unstiffened sides of the shield are sufficiently resilient to allow them to spring upward and closely engage the hood when the shield is raised by hook 4 into tight contact with the hood. Two doors, 5a and 5b, are hinged to and cover openings, 5c and 5d, in the main plate 1. These doors and openings provide outlets for slag scraped off by workmen when it is of an amount sufi'rcient to unbalance the shield during its removal from the fume-collecting hood.

When placing the shield under a fume-collecting hood, it may be carried by the handling rig shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The rig includes two parallel I" members 6a and 6b, connected together by a transverse 1" member 7 and channels 8a, 8b, and 80. At one end of these parallel "I" members vertical plates 9a, 9b are secured. Each vertical plate has an aperture through which pipe 10 is placed. The ends of pipe 10 project past the vertical plates and are flanged at lla and uh. Midway between the parallel 1" members 6a and 6b, two spaced vertically extending bars, 12a and 12b, are secured between channels 80 and 8b. Pin 13 spans the top portion of bars 12a and 12b.

When utilizing this rig'to place the safety shield under a fume-collecting hood, the shield is set on and spans the parallel I members, 6a and 6b. Crane hooks grasp pin 13 and the projecting ends of pipe 10. In order to balance the shield-carrying rig when lifted by the cranes, a suitable counterweight 14 is placed on plate 15 mounted on the parallel I members.

FIG. 5 illustrates the operation of placing and securing the shield under a fume-collecting hood 16 which is located above basic oxygen furnace 17. The shield-carrying rig is lifted by cranes 18a and 18b. Once positioned under the hood, the shield is grasped and secured by a holding crane 19 located within the hood. As shown in FIG. 6, the rig is then removed by cranes, 18a and 18b, while the shield remains in position.

I claim:

1. A protective apparatus adapted to be used in combination with an open-mouth metallurgical furnace that is shut down for maintenance purposes, a fume-collecting hood and an overhead crane, comprising:

a. a movable shield adapted to cover said hood opening adjacent said furnace; and

b. a handling rig, said rig comprising:

i. a pair of longitudinal members;

ii. a plurality of transverse members interposed between said longitudinal members and further maintaining said longitudinal members in a spaced relationship,

iii. lifting means adapted to cooperate with said overhead crane and place said shield into sealing engagement with said hood; and

iiii. means to maintain said shield in sealing engagement with said hood;

whereby said rig is adapted to position said shield in an essentially horizontal plane between said furnace and said hood and perpendicular thereto.

2. A protective apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein element (a) further comprises:

a. a plate, said plate dimensions at least equal to said hood opening:

b. a pair of stiffeners fastened to the center portion of said plate;

c. lifting means fastened to said plate; and

d. means in said plate to facilitate debris removal. 

1. A protective apparatus adapted to be used in combination with an open-mouth metallurgical furnace that is shut down for maintenance purposes, a fume-collecting hood and an overhead crane, comprising: a. a movable shield adapted to cover said hood opening adjacent said furnace; and b. a handling rig, said rig comprising: i. a pair of longitudinal members; ii. a plurality of transverse members interposed between said longitudinal members and further maintaining said longitudinal members in a spaced relationship, iii. lifting means adapted to cooperate with said overhead crane and place said shield into sealing engagement with said hood; and iiii. means to maintain said shield in sealing engagement with said hood; whereby said rig is adapted to position said shield in an essentially horizontal plane between said furnace and said hood and perpendicular thereto.
 2. A protective apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein element (a) further comprises: a. a plate, said plate dimensions at least equal to said hood opening: b. a pair of stiffeners fastened to the center portion of said plate; c. lifting means fastened to said plate; and d. means in said plate to facilitate debris removal. 